Salome MC (Persian: سالومه ام‌سی, born 1985), is an Iranian

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, producer, antimilitarist activist and

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradi ...

artist. Known as Iran's first female rapper, she has been recognized as one of the best non-English-speaking hip-hop artists by

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and ''Time'' magazine listed her as one of the world's best rappers who are revolutionizing the world of rap. She is also a multimedia/video artist and her work has been featured in festivals, galleries and universities around the world, such as

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. In 2020, Salome founded "Seven Climes", a

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

art and heritage project that presents the cultural and lingual diversity of the Iranian Hiphop scene.

Activities

Music

Salome started her music career by collaborating with Hichkas, one of the currently prominent Iranian rappers, in 2002. With German-Iranian rapper Shirali, she released the collaboration album ''Delirium'' in 2006, and, in 2009, a mixtape called ''Paranoid Descent'', which put her in the list of finalists for the

Freedom to Create Prize The Freedom to Create Prize was established in 2008 to foster prosperity in the developing world by investing in the creative foundations of society. The Freedom to Create Prize was awarded from 2008 to 2011 to support and recognise artists who st ...

in 2010. In 2013, she released '' I Officially Exist'', the first hip-hop album by a female Iranian hip-hop artist, and its first music video, "Price of Freedom", was crowdfunded to be produced by Sahar Sarshar. Salome Mc 2015 Warp and Weft Feat

Koohsar Mc Kuhsar ( fa, كوهسار; formerly two independent villages, Chendar (Persian: چِندارو also Romanized as Chendār and Chandār) and Qal'e Soleimankhani (Persian: قلعه سلیمانخانی)) is a city and capital of Chendar District, in ...

In 2015, she collaborated with Japanese rap artist

Shing02 , better known by his stage name Shing02, is a Japanese hip hop recording artist, record producer, activist and investor who was described by Patrick Neate as one of the Japanese emcees who "has addressed important issues from Japanese ethnicity ...

for a worldwide recording project called 1+1, and the resulting documentary, ''Passenger'', was released in March 2016. She was also one of the participants in the remake project of

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the pi ...

's album, ''

Zombie A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in wh ...

'', featuring

Seun Kuti Oluseun Anikulapo Kuti (born 11 January 1983), who is called by the name Seun Kuti, is a Nigerian musician, singer and the youngest son of the famous Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Kuti. Seun leads his father's former band Egypt 80. Biography The y ...

. She announced her self-produced upcoming album Excerpts From Unhappy Consciousness (ناخوشاگاه) in 2016 and debuted the first song "Odium" (رسوا) at the Music Freedom Day festival 2016 in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The music video for "Odium" was released in October 2016, followed by the second single from the album called "Callous". The album was released in August 2017 digitally, and consists of 8 tracks. In summer of 2018, Salome released her self-directed

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

for the last single from the album called "Riddle", while

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but ...

with her son. Her song "3" was published in the subsequent year along with a personal essay named "Anxiety, Alienation and Control" on an Iranian feminist website. A regular collaborator with artists from around the world, her 2020 release "Home" featuring Tunisian rapper Medusa TN debuted on

KEXP KEXP-FM (90.3 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in alternative and indie rock programmed by its disc jockeys for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by the non- ...

Radio. Salome founded "Seven Climes", a

art and heritage project that presents the cultural and lingual diversity of the Iranian Hiphop scene, and aims to connect the regional communities through their common love for creating social change through rap music. The first result of the endeavor, "Seven Climes Vol. 1" was released in April 2021. She is the recipient of 2009 female change maker award and 2018 Artist Trust

Fellowship A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher educationa ...

award.

Writing

In 2016, Salome MC wrote an article called "Another Face of Censorship" for

Siamak Pourzand Siamak Pourzand ( fa, سيامک پورزند‎; 17 September 1931 – 29 April 2011) was an Iranian journalist and film critic. He was the manager of the ''Majmue-ye Farhangi-Honari-ye Tehran''—a cultural center for writers, artists, and int ...

Foundation's website, in which she lamented the biased reporting of Western outlets about Middle Eastern women, White

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and

neocolonialism Neocolonialism is the continuation or reimposition of imperialist rule by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony). Neocolonialism takes the form of economic imperialism, g ...

. She interviewed

A1one A1one (pronounced ''alone''; fa, تنها, Tanhâ) is the pseudonym of Karan Reshad, an Iranian visual artist who pioneered graffiti and street art in Iran. His career as a street artist began in his hometown Tehran. Life and career A1one ...

, also known as Karen Reshad, the pioneer of street art in the Middle East for Kolah Studio website in May 2018. Another essay of hers named "Anxiety, Alienation and Control", which she details her postpartum anxiety experience, was published on, Bidarzani, an Iranian feminist website in June 2019.

Sound and video art

Salome MC started working as a sound and

video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. ...

while getting her master's degree in

audio/visual ''Audio/Visual'' is a greatest hits compilation released by Christian rock band Bleach. It was released in October 2005 by Tooth & Nail Records and includes two new songs, "Good to be Alive" and "Must Be Divine". Bleach's final show, performed on ...

arts in Japan. Her work has been screened and exhibited at various festivals around the world, including

Swatch Swatch is a Swiss watch, Swiss watchmaker founded in 1983 by Ernst Thomke, Elmar Mock, and Jacques Müller. It is a subsidiary of The Swatch Group. The Swatch product line was developed as a response to the "quartz crisis" of the 1970s and 1980 ...

's "Faces" exhibit at the 2015

with her music video "Vacuum," which features Don Porcella. Her video art piece ''Concealment'' was one of the selected shorts to be screened at the Iranian Film Festival in Los Angeles, and her experimental documentary ''Three Rituals of Perdurance'' was among the chosen shorts at the Currents New Media Festival 2015 in Santa Fe.

Other activities

Salome is also known as the first female

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

artist in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

, although she stopped writing graffiti in the early 2000s and focused on her music. She is also an educator and has organized

workshops Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the onl ...

for children who were effected by the

2011 tsunami Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''E ...

in Japan, and collaborates with Jack Straw Cultural Center in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

as a

teaching artist Teaching artists, also known as artist educators or community artists, are professional artists who supplement their incomes by teaching and integrating their art form, perspectives, and skills into a wide range of settings. Teaching artists wo ...

. As a peace activist, she has spoken and written against militarism and has joined on the advisory board of

Code Pink Code Pink: Women for Peace (often stylized as CODEPINK) is a left-wing internationally active non-governmental organization that describes itself as a "grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S.-funded wars and occupations, ...

after moving to the U.S.

Discography

Albums

* ''Seven Climes Vol. 1'' (2021) * '' Excerpts From Unhappy Consciousness'' (2017) * '' I Officially Exist'' (2013) * ''Paranoid Descent'' (Mixtape) (2009) * ''Delirium'' Featuring Shirali (2006)

Compilations

* ''Karitha'' is featured on ''Nafada'' by Konqistador (2019)

Films

* ''Passenger'' (Music Documentary) (2015) * ''Three Rituals of Perdurance'' (Experimental Documentary) (2014)

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salome Mc 1985 births Living people Iranian women rappers 21st-century Iranian women singers Women video artists Women record producers Women activists Women graffiti artists